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Re: Need help maximizing sparks - quick!



Original poster: "Jason Petrou by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jasonp-at-btinternet-dot-com>

Hi Patrick,

> I am supposed to present my coil this coming friday, so I quickly need to
get
> my TC tuned for maximum spark output (and maximum audience impressing :)
I
> have a variety of components but I'm not really sure how to combine them
to
> produce the maximum spark lengths possible. I'd love if you guys could
give me
> some advice.
Sure - I know the panic feeling when nothing is sorted an youve got a
display coming up!!!

> Power: 12/30 nst or 15/30 nst <--which ever would work "best" with my
other
> parts...
Use the 15KV one - more power.

> Primary: 15.5 turns of 0.25" copper tube, spaced 0.25" with 6" ID.
Should be good.

> Secondary: I have two. Both wound on 4" PVC.  One is 28" wound with #28
AWG the
> other is 24" wound with #24 AWG <--which ever would work best with my
other
> parts...
Use the 24 gauge one - it will allow you to use a small primary or a smaller
cap than you would need for the other one. with a 10nF cap go for about 12
primary turns with 10" spherical topload.

> Spark Gap: RQ style, no cooling.
Add cooling - 12V computer fans work well, also bigger blowers from space
heaters.

> Capacitor: I have mananged to obtain some MMC caps (thanks a lot). They
are 2
> strands of 15 caps each.  Each individual cap is .22uF at 1250VDC. Based
on my
> other components what would be the best arrangement?
I would guess you need about 10nF (0.01uF) at 30KV for your 15KV xfmr. Try
making a single string of 24 caps - that should give you 9.5nF at 30KV.

> Toroid:  Please help here....what size looks appropriate?
Umm, Anything really - The aluminium ducting with a sheet of ply in the
middle works, or you could go for a spherical topload...

> I'm sort of a newbie here and I don't have the empirical knowledge or
> mathematical know-how to come up with the best arragnement of the
components.
> I'm sure I should be able to obtain 3' - 4' arcs, but I have no idea how.
No... I would take a guess at 3ft MAX.

Try what I said, and see what happens. You can always fidle around with it
if it doesnt work well 1st time


Best Regards,
Jason

{UK Geek #1139 ¬ G-2}